House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Formal Minutes of the Committee Session 2010-12 Formal Minutes of the Committee Tuesday 27 July 2010 Members present: Mr Laurence Robertson, in the Chair1 Oliver Colvile Ian Paisley Mr Stephen Hepburn Stephen Pound Ian Lavery Mel Stride Naomi Long Gavin Williamson Jack Lopresti 1. Declaration of interests Members declared their interests, in accordance with the Resolution of the House of 13 July 1992 (see Appendix A). 2. Committee working methods The Committee considered this matter. Ordered, That the public be admitted during the examination of witnesses unless the Committee otherwise orders. Ordered, That witnesses who submit written evidence to the Committee are authorised to publish it on their own account in accordance with Standing Order No. 135, subject always to the discretion of the Chair or where the Committee orders otherwise. Resolved, That the Committee shall not consider individual cases. Resolved, That the Committee approves the use of electronic equipment by Members during public and private meetings, provided that they are used in accordance with the rules and customs of the House. 3. Future programme The Committee considered this matter. Resolved, That the Committee take evidence from Rt Hon Mr Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. 1 Elected by the House (S.O. No 122B) 9 June 2010, see Votes and Proceedings 10 June 2010 Resolved, That the Committee take evidence from the Lord Saville of Newdigate, Chair of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. Resolved, That the Committee inquire into Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland. Resolved, That the Committee visit Northern Ireland. Resolved, That the Committee visit the Republic of Ireland, and that the Chairman seek the approval of the Liaison Committee for expenditure in connection with the visit. Resolved, That the Chairman have leave to visit Oxford to attend the British-Irish Association Conference in a representative capacity. 4. Specialist Adviser Resolved, That Mr David Watkins be appointed a Specialist Adviser to assist the Committee. [Adjourned till Wednesday 8 September at 9.30 a.m. Wednesday 8 September 2010 Members present: Mr Laurence Robertson, in the Chair Mr Joe Benton Ian Paisley Oliver Colvile Stephen Pound Lady Hermon David Simpson Jack Lopresti Mel Stride Dr Alasdair McDonnell Gavin Williamson 1. Future Programme The Committee considered this matter. Resolved, That the Committee visit the Irish Embassy in London to meet with the Irish Ambassador. 2. Visit to Belfast, Monday 11-Tuesday 12 October The Committee considered this matter. 3. Chair’s Visit to Northern Ireland The Committee considered this matter. Resolved, That the Chair have leave to visit Northern Ireland in October to attend a series of introductory meetings in a representative capacity. 4. Publication of the Billy Wright Inquiry Report The Committee considered this matter. 5. Declaration of Interests David Simpson declared an interest as a member of the Orange Institution, Apprentice Boys of Londonderry and Royal Black Institution (see Appendix A). 6. Work of the Northern Ireland Office: introductory evidence session with the Secretary of State The Committee considered this matter. Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Alan Whysall, Deputy Director, Constitutional Policy and Legislation, Simon Case, Deputy Director, Rights, Elections and Legacy, and Simon Marsh, Deputy Director, Security and Protection, Northern Ireland Office gave oral evidence. [Adjourned till Wednesday 13 October at 2.30pm. Thursday 7 October— Friday 8 October The Chair visited Belfast to attend a series of introductory meetings in a representative capacity, in accordance with the Committee’s decision of 8 September. Sunday 10 October — Monday 11 October The Chair, Mr Joe Benton, Oliver Colvile, Mr Stephen Hepburn, Naomi Long, Jack Lopresti, Dr Alasdair McDonnell and Mel Stride visited Belfast in connection with the Committee’s inquiry into Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland and other matters, in accordance with the Committee’s decision of 27 July. Wednesday 14 October 2010 Members present: Mr Laurence Robertson, in the Chair Mr Joe Benton Jack Lopresti Oliver Colvile Dr Alasdair McDonnell Mr Stephen Hepburn David Simpson Ian Lavery Mel Stride Naomi Long Gavin Williamson 1. Corporation Tax The Committee considered this matter. Ordered, That the following written evidence relating to Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland be reported to the House for publication on the internet: Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association (CT02) Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast (CT03) Peninsula Hi-Tech Ltd (CT04) Chartered Institute of Taxation, Northern Ireland Branch (CT05) Chartered Accountants Ireland and Chartered Accountants Ulster Society (CT06) KPMG (CT07) PricewaterhouseCoopers Northern Ireland (CT08) CBI Northern Ireland (CT09) Northern Ireland Economic Reform Group (CT10) Invest Northern Ireland (CT11) 2. Bloody Sunday Inquiry The Committee considered this matter. Rt Hon the Lord Saville of Newdigate, Chair of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, gave oral evidence. [Adjourned till Wednesday 20 October at 2.30pm. Wednesday 27 October 2010 Members present: Mr Laurence Robertson, in the Chair Mr Joe Benton Ian Paisley Oliver Colvile David Simpson Ian Lavery Mel Stride Naomi Long Gavin Williamson Jack Lopresti 1. Membership of the Committee The Committee considered this matter. 2. Briefing from the Northern Ireland Office The Committee considered this matter. 3. Visit to Belfast The Committee considered this matter. 4. Future Programme The Committee considered this matter. 5. Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland Inquiry The Committee considered this matter. Eamonn Donaghy and Victor Hewitt, Northern Ireland Economic Reform Group; Jeremy Fitch, Invest NI; Brendan Morris, Chartered Institute of Taxation, John Whiting, Tax Director, Head of the Office of Tax Simplification and Martin Fleetwood, PricewaterhouseCoopers, gave oral evidence. [Adjourned till Wednesday 10 November at 2.30pm. Tuesday 2 November The Chair, Mr Joe Benton, Mr Stephen Hepburn, Dr Alasdair McDonnell, Mel Stride and Gavin Williamson visited the Irish Embassy in London to meet with the Irish Ambassador, in accordance with the Committee’s decision of 8 September. Sunday 7 November — Tuesday 9 November The Chair, Mr Joe Benton, Oliver Colvile, Dr Alasdair McDonnell and Mel Stride visited Dublin in connection with the Committee’s inquiry into Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland and other matters, in accordance with the Committee’s decision of 27 July. Wednesday 10 November 2010 Members present: Mr Laurence Robertson, in the Chair Mr Joe Benton Dr Alasdair McDonnell Oliver Colvile Ian Paisley Lady Hermon David Simpson Naomi Long Mel Stride Jack Lopresti Gavin Williamson 1. Visit to Dublin, 7-9 November The Committee considered this matter. 2. Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland The Committee considered this matter. Ordered, That the written evidence relating to Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland submitted by the Irish-U.S. Council (CT13) be reported to the House for publication on the internet. 3. Future Programme The Committee considered this matter. Resolved, That the Chair have leave to visit Belfast in a representative capacity in December to meet with members of the business community and with the Police Service of Northern Ireland. 4. Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland The Committee considered this matter. Terrence Brannigan, Chairman, and Nigel Smyth, Director, CBI Northern Ireland; Arlene Foster MLA, Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Northern Ireland Executive, Sammy Wilson MLA, Minister of Finance and Personnel, Northern Ireland Executive, Bill Pauley, Head of the Strategic Policy Division, Department of Finance and Personnel, Northern Ireland Executive, and David Thomson, Deputy Secretary, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Northern Ireland Executive, gave oral evidence. [Adjourned till Wednesday 17 November at 2.30pm. Wednesday 17 November 2010 Members present: Mr Laurence Robertson, in the Chair Mr Joe Benton Ian Paisley Oliver Colvile David Simpson Lady Hermon Mel Stride Naomi Long Gavin Williamson Jack Lopresti 1. Future Programme The Committee considered this matter. 2. Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland The Committee considered this matter. Peter Bunting, Assistant General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Richard Murphy, Director, Tax Research, and Dr Esmond Birnie, Chief Economist, PricewaterhouseCoopers Northern Ireland, gave oral evidence. [Adjourned till Wednesday 24 November at 2.30pm. Wednesday 24 November 2010 Members present: Mr Laurence Robertson, in the Chair Mr Joe Benton Naomi Long Oliver Colvile David Simpson Lady Hermon Mel Stride Kate Hoey Gavin Williamson 1. Future Programme The Committee considered this matter. 2. Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland The Committee considered this matter. Ordered, That the written evidence relating to Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland submitted by the UK Government (CT01) and Peninsula Hi-Tech (CT14) be reported to the House for publication on the internet. 3. Declaration of interests Kate Hoey declared further interests, in accordance with the Resolution of the House of 13 July 1992 (see Appendix A). 4. Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland The Committee considered this matter. Mark MacGann, Senior Vice President, Head of European Government Affairs and Public Advocacy, NYSE Euronext, and Tony McManus, Global Head of Enterprise Software and Head of Operations in